Thursday, February 7, 2019

Waaaghpaca 2019 Tournament Recap

Hey Everyone!  Today I want to wrap up my Waaaghpaca 2019 coverage by going through all five of the exceptional games I played while I was at the event.  There was a large variety of lists being run at the event and while there was plenty of lists capable of taking five games the overall event felt very relaxed and focused on community and the hobby.  The spirit of the game was, without a doubt, the focus more so then crushing faces for the sake of a win.  As I said before it was a fantastic event and I encourage everyone to consider going at least once in their wargaming career.  Be sure to check out my overall impressions of the event in my earlier post this week, but now, on to the games!


As expected I was taking my Daughters of Khaine to play, but due to a requirement in the pack to have movement trays on units with twenty or more models I chose to take a very different style of list.  I have in previous posts mentioned that I don't like using movement trays so I won't bore you with that here, but in hindsight, it was refreshing to play my Daughters of Khaine in a more MSU (Multiple Small Units) play style instead of my usual Horde style.

While the majority of my Witch Aelves were staying at home I did decide to take three units of ten as my Battleline.  I know how the function very well and having them was a nice comfort as even in small units I could rely on them to do what I needed in most fights.  After that was set I felt it would be a lot of fun to take as many big toys as possible.  I grabbed all my painted cauldrons, including the Aetherlab Cauldron I built for RAW, and saw that I still had room for Morathi and an extra Hag Queen.  Morthai was my fifth big toy as she immediately transformed in every game and to keep my army narrative growing I used my Tayrathi model as the Hag Queen on foot.


I was lucky enough to be grudged for my first game at Waaaghpaca!  The person who did the grudging was Brice Scholz and his Beast Claw Raiders.  We both peaked early as we were playing on Table 1 for our first game and we had the blessing of Rhellion watching over our game!  We were playing in the Realm of Shyish with the feature being Eternal War in Total Conquest.  Brice gave me the first turn and I pushed forward to gain an early advantage!  I transformed morathi and threw her forward in order to hold up all of his Stonehorns while capturing three objectives.  I was surprised by the amount of movement the Beast Claw army had and while I had a very solid round one Brice got the double turn and began running all over the board to pick apart my small units holding objectives.  I didn't have much that could stop all of his Stonehorns, but I was able to take the double turn myself next to stay in the game.  Brice really pushed me to get the most out of my army and I couldn't have asked for a better way to break in the army.  I squeezed as much out of every model I had, but in the end, Brice proved the better and took the win 13-8.

I was sitting 0-1, but Brice was a joy to play against, especially as my game one!  I never felt out of the game until the end and even then we shared in each other's victories and defeats as our game played out.  It was great to make a new friend and even better to get to know each other while rolling dice and playing some Age of Sigmar together.  Cheers to Brice for a great game!


Round 2 saw me facing off against one of the other Daughters of Khaine players at the event.  Aaron Schmidt was bringing a very customized and converted army to the table and I could have spent plenty of more time just looking at his models!  This round we were playing in Chamon with Rust Plague as the Feature in the Starstrike scenario.  Aaron was bringing a lot of Khinerai, Doomfire Warlocks, and Melusai and before we deployed I already saw the advantage he had with his ability to land almost anywhere the comets might fall.  I spread out as much as I could and as expected the first round was pretty tame with exception of Morathi transforming and pushing up the center to threaten early.  Thankfully the comet in the middle of the table landed directly under Morathi, but the other two found their way in the best possible place for Aaron to claim, but not without a fight.  Aaron threw everything at me and it looked like he would take the day, but while he hit hard I managed to hit just a bit harder and be just a bit more survivable.  It came down to the bottom of Turn five, but I was able to take a victory with a final score of 25-22 on objectives.

Without discrediting any other opponents, but this was my game of the event.  Ever player turn felt as if momentum was swinging back and forth.  I have not had a game quite like it before and I feel it is one of those rare games that will live on in memory for years.  Aaron played exceptionally well and was a stellar gentleman and opponent that I hope to play again one day.  I was thrilled to have taken a win, especially in the mirror matchup, but the next battle would be fierce.

My third round saw me floating around the middle tables and being paired against Meil Vermeulen and his Tzeentchian Archaon list.  We were in Ghyran with the Lifesprings Feature in Total Commitment.  Despite The Everchosen's presence, I felt confident enough to give a good game in this round and as per plan I transformed Morathi and placed her forward.  I knew he would send Arechaon after her and I felt that if I could use my big toys to bait Meil away from my Witch Aelves holding objectives that I had a good chance at taking the game.  Meil's magic dice were very hot, however, and he was able to easily remove Mortahi and all my Cauldrons by the end of the game!  It was a sight to behold and his great use of Mirror Pool allowed him to cover much of the board with relative ease.  I was happy to have kept pressure up into the middle of the game, but after turn 3 it was clear I would not be able to come back from my losses.  We pushed on to the final round and while Meil took the win with a score of 27-12 I felt very happy with how well I held up with the size of my force despite Archaon deleting my large heroes.

I was very happy to have played Meil as we rolled dice and shared stories from our time playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle as well as Age of Sigmar.  We both enjoyed watching Archaon get to work and I was happy to now be Meil's current record for most models removed in a single game using Slayer of Kings!  It was a rough round, but a fun one and after day 1 I was sitting at 1-2 and despite the losses I was happy with how well my army was performing against such exceptional opponents.


After a night of fun, working out, and hanging out with everyone day two arrived!  As the day got going I saw we would be playing in Hysh with the feature Dazzling Glow in effect for the Places of Arcane Power scenario.  Going into the event I knew this would be one of my strongest scenarios and I felt very confident until I saw my oppoenent's list which had a lot more scoring potential then I did.  While it was looking to be a tough game it was with an amazing opponent, Tanya Scheibe.  We deployed aggressively and then the summoning began.  Tanya quickly surrounded me and it was clear the fight would be an uphill battle!  Tanya kept the pressure on me the entire time, but thankfully with a few lucky Kraith rolls, I managed to stay in the fight.  This was another exciting game that went back and forth a number of times, but as the dust settled my Daughters took the day.  My key to winning the game was twofold were Morathi transforming turn one to hold the center and some clutch Fanatical Faith rolls from my Bloodwrack Shrine while my Hag Queen kept healing her as fast as possible with prayers.

I took my second win of the event and once again made a new friend through a good time of rolling dice and playing Age of Sigmar together.  Tanya put on a clinic on how to play Flesh Eater Courts in our game and I can only imagine the new Battletome will provide her even more tools for the next time we battle!  I was happy to be split 2-2 going into the final game and was even happier when I saw who my opponent was for Round 5.


I was fighting Tom McClure and his Beasts of Chaos!  The realm was Ulgu and the Feature was Shrouded Lands with the scenario being Scorched Earth.  Tom and I were both really excited to be rolling dice together and we decided to mix it up and go for something more memorable four our game.  Officially the game was listed as a draw, but I threw down the gauntlet to Tom that he had to kill Morathi, but I promised to not simply hide her away to ensure an easy victory, but I wasn't going to throw her away needlessly.  I started bunkered up while Tom Ambushed in his herd and boy was it a sight to behold.  My end of the table went from secure to madness rather quickly!  We fought a cagey mage for five rounds, but Tom was able to meet my challenge and take out Morathi in the end!

It was great to play Tom finally and see how brutal Beast of Chaos can truly be on the table.  While the game officially was a draw I have to give credit to Tom for taking my challenge and killing Morathi successfully!  A true gentleman and a wonderful person to hang out with and play.  I look forward to more games against Tom int he future!


At the end of Waaaghpaca, I sat with a nice record of 2-2-1 and I was very pleased with the results.  Primarily because I had five wonderful games with equally wonderful opponents.  Secondly, because I was happy that my experience with Daughters of Khaine allowed me to play a very different style of a list to good effect.  I never felt as if my list was suffering in any game due to its odd build and I really enjoyed how my opponents pushed me to get everything out of each of my units.  I don't think I can make Waaaghpaca a yearly trip as Adepticon and NOVA Open have become, but I am very happy I made the trip up to see old friends, make new ones, and play some phenomenal games of Age of Sigmar.  Until next week, Happy Hobbying!

Chuck Moore